Tomorrow marks a terrible anniversary for South Sudan. On December 15, 2013, fighting in Juba ignited a brutal conflict that has torn the country apart, leaving millions of South Sudanese in dire need. Today the country stands on a precipice. On behalf of the undersigned organizations we urge the UN Human Rights Council to use…
This has been a rough month for the International Criminal Court (ICC). After years of threats of withdrawal from the Rome Statute which created the ICC by African states, South Africa, Gambia and Burundi have made moves to do so this month (South Africa and Burundi have formally notified the UN of their withdrawals while…
On the two-year anniversary of the outbreak of violence in South Sudan, IRRI has published a new report, “Protecting some of the people some of the time: Civilian perspectives on peacekeeping forces in South Sudan”. The report examines civilian perspectives of peacekeeping forces in South Sudan within the broader context of the conflict and…
July 30, 2016 The Honorable John F. Kerry Secretary Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 RE: The Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Dear Secretary Kerry: Given the urgent crises in Sudan and South Sudan, we, the undersigned 70 human rights groups, activists, scholars and civic leaders, write to request the…
To: Hon. Chairperson, Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) of the Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. Cc: The Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 17 June 2016 Your Excellency, We, the undersigned non-governmental organisations working in and outside of South Sudan, urge you to be un-deterred by…
After thirteen years in the country the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), deployed at the end of the country’s civil war in 2003, is preparing to leave the country and hand over full responsibility for security back to Liberia’s government by the end of next month. What is remarkable about this is not that…
On 15 April 2016, a cross-border raid from South Sudan into Ethiopia’s Gambella region left more than 200 dead. According to the Ethiopian government, more than 108 women and children were abducted and some 2,000 head of cattle stolen during the attack that targeted Nuer villages in the districts of Jikawo and Lare. Following the…
To: Hon. Chairperson, Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) of the Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. Cc: The Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 17 June 2016 Your Excellency, We, the undersigned non-governmental organisations working in and outside of South Sudan, urge you to be undeterred by an…
Since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, more than 600,000 South Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries. More than 226,000 of them have made their way to Ethiopia, contributing to the country overtaking Kenya as the country hosting the most refugees in Africa. The western region of Gambella hosts more than 270,000 of…
Despite all the time, energy, and rhetoric invested in trying to figure out how to protect civilians from atrocities, the vast majority of civilians in armed conflict are exposed and unprotected. This is very much the case in South Sudan, where, despite the presence of a peacekeeping mission, thousands of civilians have been targeted over…
Members of the AU Peace and Security Council African Union Headquarters P.O. Box 3243 Roosevelt Street Old Airport Area W21K19 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Cc: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson, AU Commission Ambassador Smaïl Chergui, Commissioner, Peace and Security H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairperson, AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan Your Excellencies, RE: PUBLICATION OF THE…
(1 July 2015) While Europe squabbles over the acceptance of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers arriving over the Mediterranean, over the past year 154,134 refugees of South Sudanese origin alone have been assisted in Uganda, with Adjumani District receiving around 87 new arrivals every day. Despite the fact that Adjumani is itself recovering from…
While Europe squabbles over the acceptance of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers arriving over the Mediterranean, over the past year 154,134 refugees of South Sudanese origin alone have been assisted in Uganda, with Adjumani District receiving around 87 new arrivals every day. Despite the fact that Adjumani is itself recovering from decades of conflict,…
IRRI Submits Evidence on UK and International Engagement with South Sudan On 3 July 2014 IRRI submitted a statement to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Sudan and South Sudan in response to a call for written evidence into “UK and International Engagement with South Sudan 2011-2014”. While mindful of the humanitarian crisis in…
“We could not wait for our dead bodies to be found first” Nearly a quarter of a million South Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries, with Uganda taking the largest number – around 87,000. The International Refugee Rights Initiative’s report, Conflict in South Sudan: Refugees seek protection in Uganda and a way home explores the…
South Sudan is currently on the edge. Reports of an alleged attempted coup in South Sudan on Sunday 15 December were followed by days of reports of firefights all over the capital Juba. On December 19, these were followed by the news that the town of Bor in Jonglei state has fallen to rebel forces…
Akoi, a father of three, recently returned to Juba from Khartoum. Since arriving he has struggled to find work and barely makes ends meet by running errands in the local market. ‘When I was in Khartoum I had a small business [repairing farming equipment]. In Juba I make little money. Often my children go to…
Matt Corrigan is a human rights lawyer currently working on projects in South Sudan In May 2012, United Nations agencies flew thousands of South Sudanese from Kosti in (North) Sudan to Juba in South Sudan. Their transfer was forced by the authorities of Kosti who demanded that they be resettled in the South. They form…
(June 2, 2011) Six international NGOs, including the International Refugee Rights Initiative, called for stronger AU action in response to the worsening crisis in Abyei.
